Swan Queen Week: Friday: Two Women and a Little Liar
by Joshua The Evil Guy
Summary: Post Season 3 Emma and Regina have been fighting worse than ever before and everyone is tired of it. Henry especially. Finally having had enough, he turns to magic for a solution, but is he ready for the price he has to pay and the consequences of his actions?


Title: Swan Queen Week: Friday: Truth Serum

Author: Joshua

Disclaimer: ABC and Disney own Once Upon A Time and all associated characters. This story is in response to the challenge put forth by and for "Swan Queen Week" (), specifically the third bi-annual event, "Tropes & Cliches". Story contains descriptions and allusions to an 'Adult' relationship between two women. If this offends you, you always have the right to exercise your free will, and not read it.

Rated: M (for themes, content, and language)

Summary: Emma and Regina have been fighting worse than ever before and everyone is tired of it. Henry especially. Finally having had enough, he turns to magic for a solution, but is he ready for the price he has to pay and the consequences of his actions?

Two Women and a Little Liar:

The little bell over the door rung as someone entered the pawn shop. Mr. Gold looked up from his counter and was reasonably surprised to witness the identity of his visitor.

"Hello Henry, what can I do for you today?"

"I need a spell or a potion or something," the young boy answered honestly. "They're driving everyone crazy! They fight all the time, practically as soon as they see each other! It wasn't ever this bad, not even when they first met! And I've tried everything I can think of to get them to get along. I even got Granma and Granpa to try and help out! That just made them fight worse than ever! So, my last recourse is to use magic."

"Hm, yes, well, I see," Gold remarked during the boy's diatribe. There wasn't even any need to elaborate on who 'they' were. Everyone in town felt much the same as young Henry Mills, the boy caught between two mothers that hated one another. Or so it seemed on the surface. "What exactly did you have in mind, Henry?"

"I'm not sure," the young man freely admitted. "I was hoping you might have some idea, but just having them stop fighting would be enough."

"Ah, but things don't work like that," the Dark One warned. "A person doesn't fight just to fight. There is always a reason, though whether this reason is frivolous or painful differs from person to person. There are, as with many such things, only three reasons for a person to fight with another person, or even at all. They are; greed, power, or passion. You can cite as many reasons as you'd like, but boiled down to basics, all reasons come down to one of those three. Now, in regards to Miss Mills and Miss Swan, which do you suppose it is?"

"I do… I'm not sure," Henry's face was scrunched up in thought.

"Well, you may not be sure, but you should have an idea or two about it," Gold said.

"They both love me?" he guessed.

"Passion?" Rumplestiltskin remarked. "Perhaps. I've always seen your relationship with Regina as one of greed, at least on her part. But then, perhaps things have changed. But just stopping them from fighting is hardly reason to turn to magic, Henry. After all…"

They both recited the oft-said warning in unison, "... magic always comes with a price."

Mr. Gold nodded, approving, while Henry sighed, disappointed.

"I know, I know, believe me, I know," the boy confessed.

"I just wish there was a way that they could tell the truth, so we wouldn't have to guess about things like this. And maybe they'd find out that they actually have a lot more in common than just me, especially if they knew that neither of them could lie. That's the thing I really hate the most about this. They're both liars, and they've both lied to me, and for the same reason even! To protect me! Well, maybe I don't need protecting! Maybe I just need the truth! And why couldn't I inherit Emma's super power anyway?"

Rumplestiltskin patiently listened to Henry's rant, as any doting grandfather might, but it gave him an idea as to the solution to young Henry's dilemma as well.

"Ah, the truth," he interrupted when it seemed the youth was running out of steam. "Now that, I may be able to help you out with. As dangerous as magic is, the truth is infinitely more so. I think what we need here, dearie, is a simple little truth serum. It will certainly make things worse before they get better, but there are plenty of lies between your parents already. I think it is long since past that the air was cleared, don't you?"

"Wow, that would…" Henry trailed off as he actually thought about the consequences of giving his Moms truth serum and them being unable to lie, and not just know they were being lied to. "Uh… I'm not so sure… what would the price be?"

"Something you have to understand, Henry," Gold explained, "part of the price of using magic is karmic. In some ways, I claim favors or objects or materials because the magic requires those things to work. In other ways, if I _don't_ claim some kind of price, then… well, let's just say that as bad as things turn out when using dark magic, using it without a pre-determined price would be worse. Much, _much_ worse."

"So…" the boy trailed off, not quite confident enough to ask the question again.

"So," Mr. Gold smiled, showing off the tooth he was 'named' for. "The price for making _both_ your mothers unable to lie, to anyone, not even themselves, would require a price of a, shall we say balancing nature." While he was speaking, the Dark One was reaching down behind the counter and pulled out a little chest that when opened revealed itself to be full of potion vials. "There are a variety of truth serums, in a multitude of intensities and strengths. Some that last only a few moments, others days, and still others that permanently remove a persons ability to even fathom an untruth. There are also potions that exist that have the opposite effect, concoctions that force one to lie no matter how much they wish to speak the truth. That is your price, Henry," Gold warned him. "If you truly wish for your mothers to speak only the truth, then you must speak only lies."

Henry blinked, stunned. Then he thought about it.

"Can I tell anybody about this? That I took a potion that forces me to lie? And that I got it from you?" he asked, worried.

"You can certainly try," Gold smiled, hiding his laughter, though only just. "I have nothing to hide in this matter. If anyone asks me, I will tell them that I gave you the potions. What you do with them, well, that is up to you. Here," he handed over two vials, both clear liquids. "I've charmed them so that the truth serum will only be opened after the untruth serum has been opened and emptied. I'll trust you to take things from there."

Taking the glass vials, Henry gulped, briefly closed his eyes as he thought back on what had driven him in here in the first place. He sighed and pocketed both. "Thank you," he whispered and turned to leave.

Mr. Gold watched his son's son walk out the door and finally lost the struggle to contain his giggles after the little bell above the door was rung upon the boy's exit. This promised to be most amusing. And, if things worked out, and they usually did, he could get the answers to some lingering questions that plagued him still.

SQW

It was easier than he'd thought it would be, to get his Moms to both drink the truth serum. He just ordered cocoa and coffee for each of them, (the cocoa for him and Emma, the coffee for his Mom), and pour in his potion into his cup and the truth serum into both of theirs equally. He was pretty sneaky about it too, hiding his actions by making it look he was adding cinnamon or sugar or cream to the cups while waiting. When both women arrived, neither suspected a thing.

"Hey kid, how's it hanging?" Emma greeted, ruffling his hair as she sat down next to him in the booth.

"Hello Henry," Regina said as she sat down across from the pair, her tone guarded and cautious. "How have you been?"

"I'm good," he grinned. "Thanks for coming. Both of you."

"Yeah, well, it's you," the blond remarked with a shrug.

"As crass as Sheriff Swan's statement is, it is the truth. I'd do anything for you, Henry," the brunette stated.

"I ordered for us already," he said, indicating the drinks before each of them. Then he quite deliberately, with full knowledge of what he was doing, to himself and to them, took a long pull from his hot chocolate. As intended, this prompted both adult women to look down and notice their own steaming beverages. Emma, never one to resist a free drink, immediately picked up the cup. Before she could take a sip, however, Regina started the conversation in earnest.

"So Henry, what is it that you wanted to talk to us about?" she asked. "Your message made it sound urgent, but I'm curious as to why it couldn't wait for you to come home."

"Which home?" he sarcastically remarked before he could stop himself. He'd been thinking it, deep down, but he hadn't intended to say it out loud, wanting to 'keep the peace' a little while longer. Apparently the lying potion kicked in pretty quick.

Emma paused, her lips an inch from the cup in her hands. "Kid…"

"Henry, I… I'm sorry, but…" Regina tried to explain things away, but for once her cunning mind was coming up blank.

"I just want to say that I really love how you guys fight all the time," he continued, sounding incredibly genuine in what he was saying. "Like _all_ the time. And I really, really, really love it. It makes me so happy to see you guys fight."

Emma startled and turned to stare, wide-eyed at her son, while Regina was just staring, agape.

"Aren't you going to drink?" he asked, making like he was sipping his own hot beverage. Though he actually did not allow so much as another drop to touch his tongue. If he wasn't so horrified by what he'd just said, he'd be terribly embarrassed. "I paid like a hundred dollars for each cup."

Emma's eyes narrowed, suddenly suspicious. Regina picked her jaw up off the floor, metaphorically speaking. Then, mostly to keep herself from snapping out in anger, which was her first instinct, she took hold of her coffee and drained half the cup in one swallow, grimacing at both the temperature, and the unfamiliar/familiar bitterness of the black liquid. It wasn't until the aftertaste hit her that Regina's eyes went wide and she glared angrily at her son. Right as Emma was taking a small sip of her own drink, the reformed Evil Queen hissed out, "I cannot believe you did this, Henry! I'm very disappointed in you! I am very angry right now and I don't want to make you hate me by displaying it, so I'm going to leave and go cry alone, and why on earth am I telling you this?"

"I could never love you, Evil Queen," Henry said compassionately. A beat later, he realized what he'd said, his eyes went wide and his hands clapped over his mouth. Regina looked like she wouldn't wait to leave to start crying.

"OK, intervention time," Emma spoke up. "Henry, every word you've spoken today has been a lie. Why? What's going on?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied, clapping his hands back over his mouth the moment he'd finished speaking.

"Lie," Emma commented, taking another sip of her cinnamon hot cocoa.

"I want to keep talking so I'll keep saying nice things that make people like me," he said all in a rush, moving his hands away and back to his mouth quickly.

Frowning, Emma tilted her head and confirmed, "Lie."

"Henry, why are you lying?" Regina tried.

He shook his head, his hands actually tightening their hold on his mouth, though they both could hear him mumbling something.

"Are you intentionally lying?"

He nodded.

Emma frowned, not able to properly explain it, but she knew it all the same. "He's lying. So you're not intentionally lying? You're unintentionally lying?"

Regina rolled her eyes and Henry shot his biological mother a confused glare.

"He's being forced to lie," she reprimanded the Sheriff. "As for why, we'll have to guess, because I truly hope that you don't need to be told, Sheriff, that he can't actually tell us what happened to him. Not anything that we could believe at any rate."

"How do you force someone to lie?" Emma asked, putting down her empty cup.

"I would imagine, in a very similar method to how one could force someone to tell the truth," the sorceress commented, swirling the remainder of her coffee around in its cup, quite pointedly.

"What do you mean?" she was asked directly.

"Henry spiked our drinks with a truth potion, and undoubtedly his own with a potion that forces him to lie constantly."

"Henry!" Emma exclaimed, outraged.

"Tell me, Miss Swan," Regina smirked suddenly, "Why did you give Henry up all those years ago?"

Turning, outrage shining in her eyes, Emma prepared to give the former mayor a piece of her mind. Instead, she answered in a neutral tone to the direct question, "I was scared and afraid and angry and without hope. I knew in my heart that I could not both take care of myself and a child and I wanted to give him his best chance, the chance that I never got. I couldn't even hold him after he was born because I knew if I looked at him even once I could never give him up and get him adopted within the year." Everyone at the table stopped and stared at the frozen blond.

"Why did I say all that?" she asked in general, stiff with fear.

"What part of truth potion did you not understand?" Regina returned directly.

"The part where it could exist at all and what precisely it has done to me," Emma answered, blinking in surprise.

"You got this from Mr. Gold, didn't you Henry?" Regina asked.

"No," he answered immediately and simply.

"Huh, surprised it was that easy," Emma commented.

"You just have to know what to ask," Regina smirked.

"Shall we go find out how to reverse this?" the Sheriff inquired.

"Yes, I believe we shall," the former mayor gestured for her to go ahead.

"Oh no, after you," Emma replied to the gesture.

"Why?" Regina asked with a wicked grin.

Glaring with her eyes, Emma's mouth answered in the same neutral tone as before, "Because I love watching your ass in those tight skirts when I walk behind you." The Sheriff blinked, her anger diffused in the face of her surprise at her honest answer.

"Well, Sheriff, I never knew," Regina said, a faint blush to her cheeks.

"Didn't you?" Emma asked back.

"I suspected and deduced some facts from existing evidence, but before now I did not know it as the truth," she replied, her tone equally neutral to Emma's.

Stifling a grin, the blond corrected by saying, "I actually meant, didn't you know that everyone in town loves watching your ass in those tight skirts? Since you wear them all the time, that is."

The light blush had exploded until her entire face was a burning red, as the reformed Evil Queen answered quietly, "Yes."

"I want to stay here forever and I love listening to things that embarrass me," Henry said miserably, trapped between the wall and Emma, unable to leave.

"Translation; he wishes he could leave, and he hates it when we embarrass him like this," Emma teased. Henry stuck his tongue out at her.

"Let's just go and take care of the imp, Sheriff," Regina growled. "Please?"

"All right, all right," she groused, getting to her feet, letting Henry out and helping Regina to hers.

The former mayor gestured once more, saying, "After you, Sheriff."

The woman in the red jacket actually took two steps before pausing and looking back with a teasing smirk on her face, and asked her directly, "Why?"

Anger exploded behind brown eyes as the Evil Queen answered in a neutral tone, "Because I love watching your ass in those tight jeans when I follow you."

"Uh huh," Emma nodded, ignoring the flaming blush on her ex-boss's face, and then proceeded to walk out the door, putting an extra swing into her hips and pulling her jacket tight to show off her butt. Regina's eyes were immediately drawn to and followed along with the Savior's movements out the door of the diner.

"Henry, you are grounded," the thoroughly embarrassed Evil Queen growled as the Mills family followed the town sheriff.

"I'm not sorry and I'm glad I did this," he mumbled.

SQW

"Gold!" Emma shouted the moment she slammed the door open.

"Hello dearie," the Pawn Shop Owner greeted. "Tell me, do you strut around, slamming doors open, and acting like a bitch, because you like it, or are you compensating for something?"

"I strut around because that is the only way I get any respect from you people, I slammed your damned door because I'm pissed, and I only act like a bitch to people that have pissed me off," Emma answered honestly, stalking forward. "You made a deal with my son for him to give us some truth potions while making him incapable of saying anything other than a lie! Tell me why I shouldn't join the queue of people wanting to kill you and take my shot?"

"Because there's been no harm done?" he pointed out.

"How is that, Rumple?" Regina snapped, coming in with Henry.

"The potions are temporary," he answered.

"_How_ temporary?" the reformed Evil Queen asked before any of them could breath a sigh of relief.

"It's one of the more… unstable variants of the many truth serums," he answered. "They only take effect when the truth is being hidden, and they force the truth to be spoken with every word until _THE_ Truth is revealed. Henry's potion is linked to yours in this. Until the hidden truth is known, at least by those directly affected by it, every word he speaks will be a lie. Not necessarily the untruth of what he means, but a lie nevertheless."

"Why do this, Gold?" she demanded. "What's in it for you?"

"Several things, as a matter of fact," he revealed. "For starters, just like Henry, and everyone else in town, I am quite tired of the ceaseless public arguments and running games that the two of you play with one another. It is quite clear to many of us, not the least of which is young Henry, that there is something more going on between the two of you, and we'd all very much like it if you would find out whatever it is and put it behind you."

"Nothing is ever that simple with you, even I know that," said Emma.

"Very good, Sheriff. You're finally catching on," he said, amused.

"Part of this particular serum is that neither of you can refuse to answer a direct question, or redirect from the question by providing an answer that has little to do with the question beyond the phrasing."

"So what do you want to know? I've got nothing to hide," Emma retorted.

"Correction," he raised one finger. "You _believe_ you have nothing to hide. And that may very well be true, dearie. Besides that, there is very little that I would want to know from you." They all turned and looked at Regina.

"I am going to make you regret this, Rumplestiltskin," the Evil Queen vowed.

"I'll be as gentle as possible," he put his hand over his heart. One didn't need much exposure to the Dark One to know he was mocking her. "Besides, I did this for a very specific purpose, not to air your dirty laundry, dearie. Shall we begin?"

"Yes/No/I wanna ask a question!" all three answered at the same time. Everyone glanced at Emma, surprised to find her so eager. They ignored the lying Henry.

"Very well then," Gold grinned and then asked Regina, "What is your honest, unbiased, unfiltered opinion of Emma Swan?"

The woman's brown eyes went wide as she answered in a neutral tone, somewhat in awe of what she was saying herself, as she answered, "My opinion of her is that she is a naive, lazy, hypocritical, stupid idiot who doesn't deserve everything she has and squanders everything that I have fought every day of my life for. I hate what she does and chooses to do, and I especially hate how she is so utterly incorruptible and is genuinely a good and decent person, even if she obviously doesn't think so. I hate most of all that I'm in love with her and want to be a family with her and Henry, but I'm too terrified of rejection or failure to even propose it. I think she's beautiful, sexy, willful, amazing, wonderful, magical, obtuse, arrogant…"

"That's enough," he held up his hand and she was surprised to find that she stopped talking. "Well, I did say 'unfiltered'. Now, was the man known as Daniel your True Love?"

"No," Regina's mouth answered, shocking the life out of her, enough that she barely even heard herself say, "He was my first love. Tinkerbell lead me to the man that was supposed to be my true love, but I was afraid and I never met him. I'm afraid that I don't actually have a True Love, but I want it more than anything else in all the worlds."

Everyone in the room was floored, not literally, though it was a close thing as even Gold was leaning a bit heavily on his cane.

"Why did you think he was your True Love?" Rumplestiltskin asked.

Regina looked perplexed, and she shrugged and answered, "I didn't know any better. He was the only man that I've ever felt love for."

"Wow, and I thought my life sucked," Emma said sympathetically.

"Well, what about your True Love, Miss Swan? What about Henry's father?" she asked before anyone could stop her.

"Yeah, what about my dad?"

"Yes, my dear, what about my son?"

Emma blinked and found herself rather curious as to what her honest opinion of Neal truly was after everything that had happened. So she paid close attention as she said, "I haven't confessed my feelings to my True Love yet. I loved Neal when we were younger. He was so worldly and he taught me a lot that I couldn't help but fall in love with him. Then I hated him when he sent me to prison and I never wanted to see him ever again after I got out. But I went looking for him anyway. Never found him, still hated him. When we saw him in New York, all those feelings, both hate and love came back all at once. I was angry and I didn't want him near Henry because I didn't trust myself around Neal and part of me translated that to not trusting him around Henry. When he came back to Storybrooke, I got over the anger. When I thought he had died, I still felt love for him. But after, I thought it was simpler that he was dead. That way it would just be me, Henry and Regina, and not somebody else trying to take our son from us. In Neverland, I told Neal the truth when I told him that I had wished he were 'still' dead, because it was simpler. But I was enjoying teasing Hook too much, and I'd fallen out of love with Neal by that point. I'm not angry anymore, but I'm not in love anymore either. I don't hate him and I do love him, but as an old love, not anything real. I won't stop you from spending time with him, Henry, but I don't like the influence he has on you. Especially since I could teach you everything that he could anyway. And he is absolutely _your_ son, Gold."

She blinked and seemed to come out of a trance. "Huh," she grunted. "That was… kind of cathartic. Somebody ask me about my parents, this is better than a session with Archie. Cheaper too."

"Oh please, I do not need to hear about your family's woes and inability to keep track of one another!" Regina scoffed.

"Fine, then tell us about your parents, Regina," Emma challenged.

The brunette shrugged and replied simply, "I hate my mother, I love my father."

Gold grinned at the confused looks from the audience. "You didn't ask it as a direct question, dearie. She told the truth, but the whole truth only comes with direct questions. The right questions, at that."

"Why do you care about our… True Loves anyway?" she asked the pawn shop owner.

"Why do you think I care?" he replied.

"Because you're creepy and weird and evil like that," she answered. At his perturbed expression, she shrugged and said, "Hey, you asked."

"How is this helping us resolve this issue again?" Regina put forth.

"It is getting us closer to the Truth that will set us free," Henry said with certainty.

"OK, he may believe that, but he wouldn't be able to say that without it being a lie," Emma pointed out.

"Very astute, Miss Swan," Gold said. "Back to the matter at hand then."

"Enough pussy-footing around, Gold," the Evil Queen grumbled. "Ask the question you want already."

He just smiled darkly and asked, "When you changed Belle into Lacey, _could_ you have restored her memories? Her _true_ memories?"

"No," she answered. "Only Light Magic or True Love's Kiss could restore them. Though at the time I was doing it to mess with your head, I truly felt that I was doing you a favor. The same way you've done… favors for me over the years."

He grunted and sneered, but having his Belle back, he had nothing to complain about anymore and it had worked out in the end. He let it go.

"Well, that's my curiosity satisfied," he sighed. "I don't know what Truth it is that is hidden between you three, but given that the potions took effect immediately, it must be right under the surface, ready to pop. Tell you what, why don't you make the rounds, visit friends family, and see what you can find out for yourselves. Then we'll come back tomorrow and see what has been discovered, eh?"

"You're playing a dangerous game, Rumplestiltskin," Regina warned.

"Yes, yes, dearie," he sighed and waved her off. "As I've said previously, no one is harmed by this, and the effects are temporary. Exactly how temporary depends on you. And I must admit, I am enjoying the show so far."

"Come on," Emma pulled both Mills back toward the entrance to the shop. Only one didn't resist. "We're done here, Regina. The only thing he can do is ask us questions. No magical solution to this one, unfortunately."

"What is that supposed to mean?" the brunette snapped.

"That everyone in this town is obsessed with finding magical solutions to problems, whether the problem itself was magical or not, and I'm sick and tired of it. Some problems you have to face head on, _without_ magic. This is one of those times."

"I'm not sure whether your sudden honesty is more refreshing, or ironic," she grumbled, but finally allowed herself to be pulled away.

"Ironic?" Emma unintentionally asked.

As the door closed behind them, Regina was heard answering, "Because of your superpower, my dear. Being able to tell whether you're being lied to while no one else could do the same to you, and now suddenly you cannot lie."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the blond grumbled right as the bell was rung and the door slammed shut. In their wake, Mr. Gold, aka Rumplestiltskin started laughing out loud to himself. He didn't stop for quite some time.

SQW

Their next stop, after the Pawn Shop, was the school. Not just because it was there that they could find one of the few allies they all trusted not to take advantage of the situation, Snow White, but because the school was also 'part of' the Abbey where the Fairies resided, including Mother Superior, aka the Blue Fairy. After that, they were out of options.

"Well, there's always Archie," Henry suggested, being careful of his words and making sure to get Emma's attention whenever he felt that he'd lied or said something hurtful. "He's an idiot that makes lucky guesses and can't help anyone."

"Good thinking there, Kid," Emma said, responding to the intention behind the suggestion rather than the spoken words. "At the very least, he can get us asking the right questions to figure out whatever the hell this hidden truth thing is between us, right?"

She winced as soon as the words were spoken. She hadn't meant to phrase that like a question.

"Nope, not at all," Henry answered, while nodding his head.

"He could," Regina said, not looking at either of them. "But I don't trust him, so he can't."

Before she could stop herself, Emma asked, "Why don't you trust him? Oh, damnit! Sorry Regina!"

"I want to maim or come close to killing you right now, Emma," she said in the same way she might normally have said, 'It's fine, don't worry about it'. "Because of the Bug's loose lips, my Mother was able to get her claws into me once more, and I spent several weeks separated from Henry because everyone thought that I'd killed him. He cannot keep a secret any better than your mother. I don't blame him, and I'm not angry with him, but I do not trust him. So I will not concede to go see him, for any reason, but especially not so he can ask personal questions so we might have the hope of a chance at self-discovery. We can take care of this on our own, I think." They both could tell from her expression that she hadn't meant to tack on those last two words there.

By this point, they'd reached Mary Margaret's classroom, and though everyone—even the children—called her Snow White these days, in this classroom she was and would always be Mary Margaret Blanchard.

"Henry! Emma! It's so good to see you!" the fairy tale princess said upon spotting them. Then she noticed their companion and a bit of the enthusiasm left her eyes. "Regina. Of course it is good to see you too."

Emma paused to grimace and shared a look with the woman at her side. "OK, you were right, this is going to be annoying. Still not ironic, but very unwelcome."

"What brings you all here?" Snow asked, not expecting the three very different answers that she received all at once.

Henry, "I decided to silence Mom and Emma once and for all and become the hero of the town by poisoning them with spiced mead! I shall become the ruler of the world!"

Emma, "Wanted to see you, and had to share some pretty shocking news with you, and figured you were safer to start with than David or any of the Dwarves."

Regina, "Our feet, you idiot. Can't you see we just walked here?"

"What is going on?" Snow asked before they could even think about stopping her.

Henry, "This is all part of my dastardly plan to rule the world!"

Emma, "Henry says he got tired of me and Regina fighting all the time, so he made a deal with Gold for truth serums for me and her, but a potion that would force him to lie as the price to pay. Went to Gold, found out the stuff lasts until we figure out some hidden truth and say it out loud or whatever."

Regina, "Henry, who is grounded, tried to do something about Emma and I fighting and made an error in judgement. Consequences of this error include dosing us with an unstable truth serum and himself with the linked counter-agent, thereby linking us so that Emma and I must tell the truth and answer all direct questions, while Henry must do the same whilst speaking only lies."

Snow blinked owlishly at them, stunned.

"I'm going to go get Blue, if that's OK," she said, thankfully making it more of a statement than a question as she practically ran out of the room.

Rather than give in to her curiosity and ask the inevitable 'Now What?' question burning on her lips, Emma decided it would probably be best for everyone if she remained silence for the time being. So, to occupy herself until her mother returned with the Blue Fairy, she started to pace a slow circuit around the room, looking over everything.

When she came to a poster, one of those motivational ones you find in every school, that asked a question to the reader, she was suddenly afraid she would start spouting off her honest opinion of the answer. Thankfully that did not seem to be the case, she sighed after a moment.

Fortunately, they did not have long to wait as Snow returned with Blue within just a few minutes, the transformed fairy looking between them all with a mixture of curiosity, superiority, and fear. Most of that fear was directed at Regina, but Emma was mildly surprised to see a bit of it was also directed at her. Interesting.

"Snow tells me that something has happened to the three of you," she began, folding her hands beneath her blue habit. "One at a time, would you care to explain it to me, please?"

"No, I don't want to tell you anything, because I'm fine," Henry exclaimed.

"Henry gave the two of us an unstable truth serum," Regina said.

"And himself a potion that forces him to lie," Emma added.

"Gold gave it to him," they both said together, turning to glare at one another, but deciding to let it go in the end.

"An… unstable… truth serum?" If fairies gulped nervously, the Blue Fairy would be doing that now, though with her it was very difficult to tell, she was so unflappable outside of a crisis.

"That's what Gold said," Emma replied honestly.

Regina managed to hold off speaking for an extra beat, but she too answered, "Gold explained the deal to us when we confronted him about it. He said that the potions were all linked and would remain in effect until we discover and reveal some hidden truth that exists between the three of us."

"That's terrible!" Snow exclaimed, immediately going to Henry. "Oh Henry, you poor child. Don't worry, we'll find a way to fix this."

"At least someone has their priorities straight in this," Regina said as an off-comment.

Emma bit her tongue to keep from starting an 'honesty argument' with her son's adopted mother. It was tougher to do than she'd expected. Maybe they really had been fighting a lot more lately, and it was becoming habit? A bad habit, if that was the case. They would need to do something about that.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" the Blue Fairy asked, looking directly at Regina, so everyone knew she was asking the reformed Evil Queen alone.

"How am I supposed to know what you are thinking?" she snidely remarked, before answering in a more neutral tone, "As for what I am thinking; perhaps Griffin feathers and unicorn horn mixed in a solution of dryad tears and dragon blood. Except that won't account for the lying counteragent Henry took. I have several other working theories, but I believe you look as if you already know what caused this."

"Water from the Spring of Truth," the Blue Fairy answered the unasked question.

At that point, Regina joined the fairy in looking extremely nervous.

"Somebody care to fill those of us not obsessed with all things magical in on what this spring is and why the two of you suddenly look so nervous?" Emma prompted.

Regina answered automatically.

"The Spring of Truth is a magical spring that is in a hidden location guarded by various traps and protectors and dangers. It is one of seven magical springs that can be found throughout _every realm_. I won't list what all of the springs are, so please don't ask. Water from the Springs must be _given_ by the Guardian of the Well. Water that is stolen or taken from them… well, using it involves grave consequences. As an example—to ensure you properly understand, Emma—water from the Well of Wonders, sometimes called the Spring of Healing, can restore any person back to life, even upon the brink of death. But stealing the water condemns the thief to eternal life as a genie. A slave. I do not even want to guess what the consequences would be for water stolen from the Spring of Truth."

"But we didn't steal it," Emma logically pointed out. "Gold gave it to Henry, and Henry 'gave' it to us. Chances are that not even Gold stole it." At everyone's incredulous looks, she elaborated. "I mean, he probably got some hero or proxy to go and get the water and have it given to them, and then he got them to either give it to him, or just a small bit of it, or something."

They all had to nod in acknowledgment. That was how Rumplestiltskin did his business.

"So what should we do?" Snow asked the Blue Fairy.

"There is not much that we can do, I'm afraid," she answered. "The Dark One spoke the truth when he explained the method required to stop the enchantment. It only takes effect with some undeniable Truth is being denied, and it punishes those until that Truth is known. Unfortunately, there is no way to know precisely that that is, or how to discover it."

"Not without asking a lot of personal questions and embarrassing quite a few people along the way," Emma grumbled, putting her hands in her pockets.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Blue confirmed.

"Have you, maybe, thought of speaking with Archie?" Snow suggested with a shrug.

"Yes," Emma answered quickly, relieved to see that Regina had stopped herself from speaking when the truth was answered anyway. "But there are trust issues to deal with, so we probably won't be going to see him any time soon. In the meantime though, Regina needs a guard."

"What! Why?" the reformed Evil Queen snapped.

"Because as much as you have changed over the years, if anyone in town finds out about this new vulnerability you have—the inability to dodge questions—some idiots wanting payback for some nearly forgotten slight are going to want to start hounding you and asking you either embarrassing questions, or questions that they know the answers to will vindicate whatever actions they plan on unleashing on you. Anymore stupid questions?"

"Do you ever hurt yourself getting into those tight skinny jeans of yours?"

"Not since I was fourteen… what does that have to do with anything?"

"You asked for a stupid question," Regina pointed out.

Emma opened her mouth to retort, and then closed it. Grumbling, she said to herself, "I've really got to watch how I phrase things now."

"I agree with Emma, Regina," Snow said. "Yes, you've changed, and you've shown everyone that. But some people don't let go of the past as easily as everyone else. You need someone to protect you from those few."

"Well, why don't I just stay with you idiots? Besides, I doubt that I'm the only one people are going to want to take advantage of while in this particular… state," Regina observed.

The question didn't have an answer that was 'the truth', at least not one that wasn't open to interpretation from individual opinions. Nevertheless, it was a direct question.

Emma, "You don't stay with us because you're too prideful and mistrusting of us, and you hate Snow, and Snow and David won't trust you—for long—under their roof."

Henry, "I want to stay in the mansion, it is easier to plot and unleash my plans to take over the world from the stronghold of evil where the Evil Queen resides!"

Everyone looked at the embarrassed little liar with surprise and curiosity. Emma, however, looked to him like he'd just given her a brilliant idea.

"Hey, yeah," she said. "We could all move into the mansion. For one thing, it is isolated, and we're almost guarantee no visitors by people we don't already trust, and Henry will be at home there. Plus, there's got to be a spare bedroom for me. I mean the place is huge!"

"Hardly," Regina scoffed.

"Well, it's huge to me," Emma ground out.

"Let's discuss this later, shall we?" Snow said, sounding suddenly urgent.

"What's up, Mom?" Emma asked.

"My class is about to come back from their lunch break," she pointed toward the suddenly noisy hallway.

"Yeah, and… oh," Emma quickly caught on to what a bunch of 5th Graders would do when they came across two adults that could not lie, and a boy their age that could do nothing _but_ lie. Turning to Regina, she pleaded with her eyes.

Sighing, she gathered the two of them at her side and Regina said to Snow, "I'll undoubtedly see you tonight, Snow. Dinner at my place then?"

"It's a date," Snow said, trying to put on a brave front with a smile and a joke.

"Wonderful," Regina sarcastically remarked, able to get away with it because she knew to Henry and Emma it was 'wonderful'. She raised both arms, wrists twisted, and all three vanished in a swirl of purple smoke.

_TBC…_


End file.
